Vendetta
by Proper Prose
Summary: In order to fight against the sins of Tokiomi Tohsaka, Kariya Matou joins forces with a black knight called Lancer. AU


**Thank you to all the wonderful people who read the previous one shots! I'm still quite a novice at the lore, being that I've only really played Grand Order but I do know quite a bit about stay night and Zero thanks to my brother, who introduced me to the franchise. So that's where I'm drawing from.**

**Now some responses for the reviewers.**

**KINGREADER: Reward?! Reward? … Ha, haha haha! Uhh… Matou is suffering…**

**Gura Kuror: Yeah, Connla's kind of a big topic in the Fate community, so I'm not surprised someone figured it out so quickly. But yes, I am planning on continuing this AU (which I have yet to establish a name for) as a series of one-shots for now, just snippets to show what each Master and Servant would be like in a full story.**

**Each character and their Servant is tied to a specific theme that serves as the title of their one-shot. Shinji and Rider revolves around the concept of succession and inheritance and what it means to be worthy. Rin and Lancer both explore what it means to be a dutiful child. Kariya and Rogue Lancers's own story below covers how grudges can drive and change a person. Shirou and his Servant, whose story I plan to write after this one, will deal with falsehoods (which would be the main theme of the story). Kiritsugu, who will be after that one, will deal with sacrifice. Following that will be Ilya and Berserker, whose theme I have yet to decide on, and then Shirou and Saber. Other characters are yet to be determined, but I was thinking of adding an OC (which I don't normally like, even if the Servants I'm using are being that they are not from the source material. I just use figures that Type/Moon hasn't.**

**For now, enjoy this story about everyone's favorite psycho complex** **vengeance seeker.**

* * *

Vendetta

Spent from recent efforts, fueled by a rage that spanned nearly two decades, Kariya Matou stood in the empty warehouse that he had made his hideout. Not a truly practiced magus, he had only a few tools and materials to convert it into a makeshift workshop. His associates would be bringing the rest of what he required later, but he accomplished his first task with what little he had.

The animal that laid butchered on the concrete floor, its blood used to transcribe the summoning circle, had been the only truly difficult thing to acquire. A career jousting horse would have been an oddly specific item for most market goers. It was not a true catalyst, not some ancient relic, but made for a decent sacrifice.

Many conditions could influence a summons outside of the catalyst, including the time of day, the sacrifice and the personality of the Master that performed the ritual. While not using a catalyst would normally summon a Heroic Spirit that would mesh well with its Master's personality, he was looking for a specific skill set.

The actual catalyst was atop the sacrifice. A white cloth adorned with a coat of arms. It was no ancient relic dug out of a grave or desert, but instead a modern recreation of one. If everything went accordingly, he would summon the Servant he desired.

A Boundary Field prevented detection, otherwise the summoning would have been like shooting a flare up into the starless night. But the magus had a few familiars patrolling the area just in case. If worse came to worst, Kariya planned to go down fighting.

But, most importantly, his efforts had not been in vain. There had been a chance that the summons would not be answered, but Kariya beheld the three Command Seals branded onto the back of his hand. Bloody red, it swirled like a centipede divide in segments. And standing in the circle, a specter of the past made manifest, stood his Servant, ready to fight the Enemy of Man.

A black knight.

He stood in full armor and adorned with a crest on the left of the breast plate. It was gold and blue, the same as the coat of arms used as a catalyst. The armor was worn and aged, covered with marks that caught the edge of enemy weapons. Many looked to be the claw marks of some beast. A helmet with thin eyeholes rested upon his head.

But in his hand was a plain jousting lance, showing that his Servant was of Lancer class. But despite its appearance Kariya could feel the power hidden within it. It had to be the knight's Noble Phantasm and a powerful one at that.

The knight turned his head, gazing upon his surroundings, before his eyes settled on the sacrificial horse. "Well, my Master, it seems you've made quite a mess."

* * *

The 'mess', as Lancer put it, was cleaned as easily as Kariya setting his familiars on it. Swarms of insects, some the size of rodents, crawled out of hidden spaces and covered the horse's body, hungrily breaking the body done for food.

Even the bones would not be left untouched.

From there, Lancer 'settled in' as it were. As a Servant he did not require sleep, rest or even food, but his Master, Kariya Matou, had a stocked fridge and spare beds for his associates should they ever need them. This was graciously extended to Lancer as well, though truthfully the knight could not see himself using them in the foreseeable future.

It was after that, as they stood in the makeshift workshop, when Kariya Matou had explained the nature of the summons.

Lancer's Master was a fugitive from the law, wanted for many crimes across the world. Crimes he had committed to accumulate the knowledge and power to best his hated enemy. He told him of the man named Tokiomi Tohsaka, the object of his hatred. Ranted, really. The Matou magus had become impassioned, his voice not even disguising how he envied the man as much as he hated him. How he sought to take his wife and daughters for his own.

No such words actually left Kariya's mouth, of course, but Lancer could read between the lines. It was a simple motivation, repeated throughout history, wrapped with the trappings of a noble cause. He had witnessed it often enough. Perhaps this Tohsaka was the monster his Master made him out to be. Perhaps not. It was no concern of Lancer's either way.

What did hold his interest was the Servant that was allied with the Tohsaka family, in addition to an Archer, was a Saber of great power. His whole purpose for being summoned.

To finally cross arms in battle once more! Was it too much to hope?

Their time was interrupted when the door to the warehouse opened and a group of men entered. Kariya knew these men, as they all ran in the same shady circles, and had been waiting for them. Behind them was a forklift that carried two crates.

If any of them were surprised at the sight of a blood transcribed magic circle or a knight in full armor, they did not show it.

Once the crates had been placed onto the floor, the men immediately got to work prying them open using their crowbars with a speed and skillfulness that came only from practice.

Swords, guns and weapons spilled out of the crates and onto the floor, cushioned by packing cotton. Lancer grabbed and held up one of the guns. Despite the gap in their eras, he would never fail to recognize a 'tool of the year's. Sleek, yet blocky. Manufactured by machine, yet wonderfully crafted. Skilled with weapons of all kinds, even this foreign object would soon feel natural in his hands.

He was a knight. He was death wrapped in metal. He was Lancer.

* * *

Lancer had performed admirably, but their first round against the head of the Tohsaka was a failure. The look of confusion, the slight inkling of fear had been enjoyable though, as he saw the look on the man's face when Lancer started destroying Archer's Noble Phantasms.

Lorebreaker.

It was the whole reason why Kariya had summoned this Servant after conducting so much research. A skill possessed by this black knight, which gave him the ability to turn any weapon into a Noble Phantasm destroyer. Archer's weaker weapons shattered like glass from mere bullets while still in his hands, allowing Lancer to close the distance between them. Depriving the Servant of long-range combat, the aim was to end Archer with a single strike of the lance at close range.

Lancer said that anything else was too risky to use inside the city. As much as they wanted to defeat their enemy, senseless destruction would yield no benefit. Kariya could have used a Command Seal and have Lancer turn the entire block and beyond into molten flag, but they were interrupted before he had the chance.

The Archer was a skilled fighter, drawing out the fight until reinforcements from Chaldea arrived on the scene. As much as he wanted to continue, Lancer warned him that he would surely be defeated if he was to fight more than one enemy at a time. Kariya's lack of skill as a magus added to Lancer's preferred one on one fighting style ensured this was the case.

Lancer dematerialized, returning to spirit form, and Kariya Matou, having not revealed himself, slipped away unseen.

In his workshop he fumed at the results. Tokiomi Tohsaka would pay for his sins, Kariya had sworn.

There would be other opportunities.

* * *

Another battle, another interruption.

In addition of Byakuya's spawn, there had been a boy, one of the other Master Course students, and his Saber that had interfered with their attempt on the life of Tokiomi Tohsaka. It did not go beyond Kariya's notice that the Saber had caused Lancer to pause.

"That Saber, did you know her?"

Lancer nodded his head. "In life, yes, though not well." Many emotions ran through him. Perplexion and disappointment, mainly. They both knew she was not the Saber allied with the Tohsaka and thus not the opponent that Lancer was hoping for. "However, I am surprised to see her, especially as a Saber. She was not much of a fighter, though I suppose she could be summoned."

The whole thing had been a disaster. Lancer refused to destroy the transport on account of that useless boy being there -as if it mattered what happened to someone like him- and his identity had been exposed. Now the Chaldean forces and other authorities would be looking for him. Increased patrols, increased security.

Ridding the world of Tohsaka's evil would be even more difficult now.

Lancer turned towards his master. "Why did you order me to attack that transport? One of your kin was on it."

"I share no ties to that tainted sack of meat!" Kariya snapped. He had walked away from that life long ago.

"So you do not care what occurs to your nephew?"

"I have no nephew." He may have still carried the Matou name, but he had thrown away that legacy long ago. Even his familiars, though similar to his 'father's', had different origins. They were not the crest worms that Zouken deployed, but we're instead preexisting species of insect enhanced by magecraft.

He kept his family name as a reminder of the type of people he swore to fight against. People like his father and Tokiomi Tohsaka. Magus who lord over others and see them as tools and playthings. Objects to possess and use. They were tainted and did not belong in this world.

Aoi. Rin. Sakura. Those three were pure. The light and joy on this world. Kariya swore he would rescue them from the clutches of Tohsaka.

* * *

"Lancer, what's it look like down there?"

"No guards, no familiars, no traps that I could detect."

The two stood on the roof of a building across the street overlooking a church. Kariya knew that the Tohsaka family came from Japanese Christians and still had strong ties to the church. Whether they still practiced the religion was an unknown to him.

Not that it mattered or if he cared.

"Is Tohsaka alone?"

"No. Shinji Matou is with him. They sit in the church library, talking. Archer is not with them."

That was odd, but Kariya was sure that if Archer was not there, he was waiting elsewhere to snipe them with one of his Noble Phantasm. At least Rider was a nonconcern. There was no way this offer of truce could be genuine, even in light of current circumstances. That was not how Tokiomi Tohsaka operated.

As for Shinji's presence, perhaps the rumors were true. Even in this new era of magecraft, Tohsaka made a name for himself as something of a traditionalist. Were the two even now speaking of binding Sakura to the Matou through matrimony?

That he could not allow. Lancer was speaking, though Kariya no longer heard his words.

No more interruptions. No more interference. He would rid the world of Tokiomi Tohsaka and one of the accursed Matou.

On his hand, one of the Command Seals shined.

* * *

"Everything seems benign."

It was an open invitation. Lancer had poured over all the information that his Master had gathered on the Tohsaka. It was something of an obsession, of course. But he had learned that Tokiomi Tohsaka was a man who fought using fortification and by operating from a distance.

If he had wanted them dead, then Tohsaka would not even be here or would have had Archer snipe them at least. The Servant, even if he was far away enough that Lancer could not detect him, had more than ample time to get into position to fire.

Moreover, there would be no reason to involve the boy Shinji. He no longer had a Servant, making any alliance limited, and Tohsaka knew of Kariya's disdain for his own nephew, so he was useless as a hostage.

The current situation was unprecedented. The world faced its greatest crisis since the one twenty years before. Tokiomi Tohsaka would be duty bound to address it. Would such duty transcend the hatred the two men shared. It was not the first blood died Lancer had been involved in, but he had seen others whether both sides would join forces, even if only temporarily, to combat a stronger for.

"Master, the offer of truce seems genuine. Perhaps we should go done and listen to what he-"

Lancer stopped when an outside force seized him and felt his body begin to spasm. "Master?"

Kariya held up his hand, one of his Command Seals glowing. "Lancer, by the power of this Command Seal…"

Eyes wide, the Servant, sensing his Master's words, pleaded. "Please, don't!'

"... Unleash your Noble Phantasm and destroy Tokiomi Tohsaka!"

"No!"

Though he tried to fight it, Lancer succumbed to the Command. His lance materialed in his hands and the black knight pointed it right at the church. Beginning from the tip, all the way to guard, the facade of a jousting lance twisted and fell away. Underneath was a shaft of pure energy, ready to be unleashed.

Though he fought with all his will, Lancer called forth his weapon's power, but the sound of the release drowned out all noise. A blinding light filled the Kariya's vision, so bright he had to cover his eyes. There was an impact and it felt as if an earthquake had happened.

When Kariya's vision refocused and he had lowered his arm, a horrific sight was before him.

The church was gone, just as he hoped. A blazing hole in the ground was all that remained. Tokiomi Tohsaka was dead, as he always wanted. Shinji Matou had to be gone as well, though that did not matter.

However, the blast released by the Noble Phantasm did not stop at the church. The energy washed over the landscape like a flood. Building were demolished, reduced to burning rubble. Roads were carved out of the ground like loose dirt. A giant scar across the city for miles that reached all the way to the bay, where the water had parted.

Lancer's glared at his his Master, who stood stunned, before looking out at the devastation he had unwilling caused. He had limited its power as much as he could, but when it came to the power to annihilate kingdoms, only so much could be held back. Surely hundreds, maybe even over a thousand people were dead, many more injured.

This was the price of his Master's vengeance. Perhaps his would now entail less bloodshed.

…

God, why did he believe this time would be any different? He knew he was doomed to cause catastrophe. But he had to try. Vengeance and honor were all he had left.

Lancer grabbed his Master, and they were gone before the authorities and emergency workers arrived.

* * *

Unregistered Master File:

Name: Kariya Matou

Origin: Fuyuki City

(Subject is to be considered armed and dangerous. Employs the use of familiars in combat. Wanted for crimes including but not limited to: multiple counts of terrorism, murder, attempted murder, assault, battery, illegal entry, smuggling, black marketing, illegal ownership of a fire arm, illegal usage of magecraft, unsanctioned summoning of a Servant, failure to register Master status)

Servant: Lancer

True Name: Unknown

Origin: Unknown, most likely Western European

Noble Phantasm(s):

Unknown (Takes the form of a jousting lance. Servants describe that it feels like a bomb waiting to go off)

(Note: identifiable as dressed in black medieval plate armor. Possesses the skill Lorebreaker, which makes him a danger to Servants, particularly those reliant on their Noble Phantasms. We are researching what figures could have such a skill as a Servant.)

(Do not engage subjects alone. If encountered, monitor and call for backup. If engaged, stall for backup.)


End file.
